'Vast improvement' at Cochran VA Med. Center in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A new government report says the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis has made "vast improvements" after an earlier report noted problems.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General issued the report Wednesday.

It comes more than two years after reports that insufficient sterilization at the center's dental clinic may have exposed more than 1,800 veterans to hepatitis and HIV. Subsequent testing found no link to hepatitis or HIV in patients.

Other sterilization concerns briefly shut down surgeries at the center last year.

A report issued in April found the center still needed to improve its sterilization procedures.

The new report says that many of those conditions have been resolved and that no further action is required. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill called the improvements a success story.

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